This post is long overdue. For my birthday way back in the beginning of the summer, my friends took me out for dinner at Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas. The name of the restaurant says it all: Eurasion style tapas. We ordered a whole bunch to share, and while I didn’t taste them all, I was able to nab shots of everything! :) Instead of the usual bread and butter, the restaurant starts you off with plates of rice crisps – like a flatted rice krispes treat, only not sweet, with a nutty roasted flavor. To accompany the crisps was a nori-wasabi aioli, creamy and spicy, a great way to jump start your appetite.

First up is an order of the Panko-Crusted Ahi, slices of ahi wrapped in ahi, dipped in panko, friend and served with braised celery, tobiko & kimchee lemongrass sauce. You can find panko ahi at tons of restaurants on this island, but the sprinkle of tobiko was a nice touch. Pair that with the crunch of braised celery, and it’s no longer your ordinary dish of fried ahi.

A simple Spinach Salad with crumbled eggs, tsukemono, bacon bits and Hau’ula tomato. It comes with a mustard sesame vinaigrette. I’m taking most of this info from the restaurant’s menu…otherwise I couldn’t remember all these details for the life of me!

The Pancetta & Brie Stuffed Tonkatsu was off the ‘larger plates’ section of the menu (whereas the other items we ordered were off the ‘tapas’ section. It was a pretty good price considering the sheer size of the tonkatsu. I mean, it was BIG. However, as we all know, bigger does not always mean better, and such was the case as the tonkatsu was way overcooked and there was barely a touch of pancetta or brie inside. On the side is a trio of konbu musubi, brocollini in roasted garlic brown butter.

My favorite item by far was the Bo Bo Farms Foie Gras Sushi. They serve the exact same dish next door at Vino (cause the two restaurants share a kitchen), and maybe next time I’ll order like 5 plates of this for dinner. That would make me very happy. The foie gras is simply seared and brushed with a teriyaki glaze. To round it off is an ‘essence of shiso’ (which I completely failed to detect), as served as ‘sushi’. Foie Gras + Rice = Melting meaty, buttery bliss in mouth.

Duo of Contemporary Sushi: on the right are two pieces fo the ginger scallion ahi, which Marie noted with “stringy.” In the back is miso-glazed salmon, which was very awesome indeed, though it’s quite hard to go wrong with miso and salmon.

Spicy Tuna 2 Ways – spicy tuna “sushi” and a spicy tuna” “sandwich” with cucumber, tomato and basil. They all look exactly the same, don’t they? The ‘sandwich’ was stacked in the porcelain spoon and pressed down, which made it difficult to distinguish between the ‘sushi’ and ‘sandwich’. You don’t know what you’re eating till you bite in.

The Misoyaki Butterfish was another highlight of the evening, accompanied by wilted Nalo tatsoi and lemon-ume gelee on baby bok choy. The kitchen seems to have a penchant for using a variety of gelees in their dishes, and foams (as you’ll see in the desserts). Gelees and foams are definitely fun, but you have to know what you’re doing with them. No sense in plopping down cute cubes of gelee simply for novelty purposes without first considering if this will actually aid or beneficially contribute to the dish!

And. Of course. You need dessert. The Bananas Foster Ice Cream Puff was quite an interactive dessert dish. Choux pastry split and filled with vanilla ice cream, and placed on top of sautéed bananas. It was really a 2 piece dessert, as off to the left stood a duo of chocolate truffles designed to look like lolipops and a dish of Hawaiian vanilla bean dip

We also had a Macadamia Nut ‘POG’ Cheesecake, which came dressed in a fancy of foam. Lots of foam! That’s mint foam on the left, guava foam smothering the top of the cheesecake, vanilla ice cream to the right, and a bed of lilikoi-orange coulis. Yes there is a lot going on here. The mint foam, coulis and ice cream could easily be omitted, ‘cleaning up’ the dessert and making it more presentable, and perhaps more appreciated.

And that…was a lot of food! Thanks to my great friends for a day on the beach followed by an even better dinner :)

Share this:

8 Comments

anonymous
November 30, -0001

Hawaii people are notoriously slow to react to change, and that trickles down to something even as innocuous as food. Everyone is so weaned on Alan Wong’s, Roy’s, 3660 on the Rise, etc. that when something new like Stage comes along, the first reaction is to be critical rather than to embrace the experience for what it is.When Chef Mavro first opened, the received the same reactions as Stage: overpriced and overrated. However, they kept doing their thing and as time went on, people started to realize and then accept Chef Mavro for what it was. The same can be said for Stage. Give it a try before you go, but go there for dinner. It’s like the difference between lunch and dinner at Town. Both are good, but the dinner menus are where it really happens.

Brie tonkatsu!!! chocolate lollipops?! i’m drooling! the stuffed tonkatsu makes me want to try to make something like this although I know it wouldn’t taste as good hahaha but the cheesecake looks heavenly !

Hey Kat!If your list is getting longer…it must mean that you should make a trip here sooner, hehe! :)Hey Cheesywee!The tonkatsu looked really good, but there was only a teeny bit of pancetta and brie…still, I bet it’d be worth a try to recreate at home! :)Hey Anon!I’ve been wondering about Stage…such good review in local papers, but when I talk to people who’ve eaten there on their own accord, the general consensus is lukewarm.

Hi Anon!I’ll try make it over to Stage, though I do have a question: is your opinion on Stage from that of a diner, or are you affiliated with the restaurant in any way?Hi Alan!Thanks for the birthday wish! I really enjoyed Hiroshis, though how I could understand how others wouldn’t enjoy it as much. I love all your photos from your SF trip – the Ferry Market is an incredible wonder! :)